221 - David Albert: The Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics

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David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is David’s eighth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last appeared on episode 210 with Tim Maudlin, which was a more advanced episode on Niels Bohr and the foundations of quantum mechanics. In this episode, David gives a pedagogical and introductory overview of the measurement problem, which is the issue at the core of many discussions about the foundations of quantum mechanics. David’s most recent book is A Guess at the Riddle (2023). If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Note: Unfortunately, the cameras turned off in the middle of the episode. For twenty minutes there is no video, and for most of the episode only the camera focusing on David is recording.

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Introduction

04:54 On Philosophy and the Foundations of Physics

15:35 The Bizarreness of the Quantum World

19:16 What Is the World of Classical Physics?

24:00 How Quantum Mechanics Destroyed the Classical World

29:19 What Is Quantum Mechanical Superposition?

32:18 How Quantum Mechanics Became the Theory of Reality

39:53 What Is the Measurement Problem of Quantum Mechanics?

51:05 Niels Bohr and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

01:01:14 Niels Bohr and the EPR Paper

01:08:45 Was Niels Bohr the Most Charming Physicist of All Time?

01:15:59 Is the Measurement Problem a Scientific Problem?

01:21:24 Is String Theory Pseudoscience?

01:31:03 Why Don’t Many Philosophers Work on String Theory?

01:34:08 The Wave Function and the Measurement Problem

01:37:57 Quantum Measurement and Wave Function Collapse

01:41:34 Hidden Variable Theories of Quantum Mechanics

01:44:54 Quantum Mechanics and the Multiverse

01:48:47 Solving the Measurement Problem with Experiment

01:56:41 Quantum Mechanics and the Scientific Project

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, historians, economists, and everyone in-between.